SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Landman Season 2, Episode 4.
The fourth episode of Landman Season 2 feels like it’s mostly in stasis. The first 40 minutes of “Dancing Rainbows” are about the same things that viewers already know: Tommy Norris lack of grief over his mother’s death and Cami Miller’s grief over her husband’s death. But for all that doesn’t happen, the episode does finally start to fix the problem that’s been lurking all season.
Most of the first half of this episode is about Tommy’s mother’s funeral, whether it’s the commute to it, the service itself or the shared meal afterward. Nothing comes out in any of this that changes the viewer’s perspective on Tommy or his family. The big plot point is that Ariana decides to accompany Cooper to the service, since he was supportive of her after her husband’s death in Season 1. Getting to meet Cooper’s family—and hearing Tommy’s shocking abuse story—gives Ariana new perspective on why Cooper is the way he is.
This storyline hasn’t had the emotional impact that co-creator Taylor Sheridan wants it to have, chiefly because Tommy understandably has no interest in talking about his mom or mourning her—so neither does the audience. It’s hard not to compare this to when Yellowstone killed off John Dutton. The obvious and significant difference is that John was a main character and the foundation of Yellowstone, but his death was treated like an occasion that changed all the characters. In contrast, fans of Landman can’t connect with Tommy’s mom, so they have to do so through him, and when he doesn’t want to then it’s near impossible for the viewers to care. Too much time is spent here, such as a comic relief scene about Angela’s “road trip playlists” that is not funny. As Tommy points out to her, it makes no sense on the way to a funeral, and so the humor itself sticks out like a sore thumb, too.
The real significant development is that Ariana chooses to rekindle her relationship with Cooper. That’s great news for both characters, since their split felt sudden in the first place. However, how the reconciliation happens does expose an issue in how they’re being written. Ariana’s big complaint is that Cooper left when she told him to, instead of “fighting for me” or coming up with “another option.” But can he really be faulted for trying to respect her explicit wishes? He tends to be so polite that he can be passive. So perhaps the second time around, their talks can be less one-sided.
And speaking of single dimensions, “Dancing Rainbows” deserves a round of applause for giving both Angela and Ainsley Norris back some of their dimension. The funeral enables both characters to have actual serious moments, with Angela trying to get Tommy to talk to T.L. and Ainsley becoming upset over Tommy’s story about her grandmother. It’s so good to see these characters have depth again, especially using Angela’s experience at the retirement home to give her insight into the relationship between T.L. and his father. Angela and Ainsley are relevant in Landman Season 2, Episode 4 in a way they haven’t been all season.
The exact opposite of that is a subplot with Rebecca Falcone that is either completely random comic relief or some attempt at foreshadowing. Rebecca meets Charlie (played by Guy Burnet, who also portrayed Stella Kidd’s abusive ex-husband Grant on Chicago Fire) on her flight, and after lots of turbulence and drinking the two sleep together. Charlie mentions that he works in the oil fields, so it’s possible his introduction will tie back to the main story somehow. If not, then these scenes don’t make much sense. Does the viewer need to know who Rebecca is drunkenly hooking up with?
Plot-wise, not much happens here, which leads the episode to feel inert for its first half. Landman officially puts Cami in business with Gallino, even if he says he’ll only negotiate the terms of their deal with Tommy. There’s Ariana and Cooper, of course. And the hour ends with T.L. accepting Tommy’s offer to move into the house with everyone else (which is not a huge shock given actor Sam Elliott being listed with the main cast). But the M-TEX situation is mostly on the back burner, save poor Jerrell panicking in the hospital. And without enough emotional stakes to fill that void, the episode doesn’t pop like it could.
Sheridan is once again writing every episode of Landman, which makes it surprising that Season 2 hasn’t found that punch yet. He’s following in his own footsteps. But this episode does start to make Ainsley and Angela feel more fully realized, which is important to making Season 2 feel more coherent in general. It rights the wrong of Cooper and Ariana breaking up. And it does contain some plot breadcrumbs to follow. It’s not Sheridan’s best work on the subject of grief, yet at least Tommy (and the fans) can start to move forward.
Landman streams Sundays on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+.
